Nutrition and Food Sciences: Basic Concepts of Foods

Introduces the basic concepts of food central to the disciplines of nutrition, food science and food systems. Introduces these basic concepts in the same way as everyday Americans - through the process of meal preparation.

Asynchronous online 6 weeks 5/19-6/27

This course introduces students to the basic concepts of food central to the disciplines of nutrition, food science and food systems. Students are introduced to these basic concepts through the process of meal preparation. Thus, concepts and practices are always considered as interconnected. Students will also be introduced to the practice of sensory analysis and will learn to pay closer attention to the fine sensory details of a meal. Finally, a major goal of this course is to have the student be able to understand and use these concepts in their home and work settings.

Each module of this course begins on a Monday and ends on a Sunday. This is our “online week.” On Friday evening you will see that the online materials for open early for each module in case you want to get a head start on the upcoming module. All new modules will be visible in our course in Brightspace. All of the curriculum materials, presentations, readings, demos, and resources for the course will be shared on our class Brightspace. Brightspace will also be used for communication and submitting assignments, while discussion and comments will be shared on YellowDig. We estimate that students will be engaged in approximately 20 hours a week of course instruction. This will be a combination of readings, listening to lecture presentations, class discussions and reflections, live sessions, assignments and recipe planning, food preparation and mealtime. Throughout the class you will be expected to shop for, prepare, eat, and reflect on 8 meals in your home kitchen as part of the lab requirement for this course. There will be a handful of recipes a week that you will need to prepare and reflect on by the end of the day each Sunday. You will be expected to complete a sensory analysis of your meal as you eat it and turn that in along with a picture of each meal you make. You should watch each week’s demo before you start preparing the meals.

Course Assessments: Discussion posts and comments 20% Engagement & application (purchasing and preparation, photo of recipes, sensory analysis) 20% Weekly quizzes 15% Recipe Analysis Assignment 15% Meal Design Project Presentation 15% Final Writing Assignment 15%